Edward Cook

Edward Cook (1750-1780) was a Lieutenant in the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was killed in an ambush by the American patriot Benjamin Martin and his two sons in 1780.

Biography
Edward Cook was born in England in 1750, and he enlisted in the British Army. Cook rose to the rank of Lieutenant, and he was sent to the Thirteen Colonies to command a platoon of British regulars during the American Revolutionary War. In 1780, he arrived at the plantation of Benjamin Martin, where he thanked him for taking care of several wounded British soldiers. However, their exchange was interrupted by the arrival of the savage British cavalry officer William Tavington and his Green Dragoons, and Tavington had his men execute the wounded American soldiers and burn the plantation down. Cook was forced to carry out the revolting orders out of fear for his own life, and he showed regret when he looked at the crying children of Benjamin Martin. His platoon of 20 soldiers proceeded to leave the plantation with Benjamin's son Gabriel Martin, a dispatch rider, as a prisoner, and Benjamin and two of his sons set out to rescue Gabriel. In the ensuing ambush in the woods, Cook was shot in the back of th neck, killing him.